AN important link in the country’s national highway connecting Gulf to Southern Highlands has been opened by Prime Minister Peter O’Neill.O’Neill was joined by cabinet ministers and governors to travel to the little village of Samberigi to open the Samberigi to Kikori portion of the Gulf-Southern Highlands Highway. A little over 36km from Samberigi to Erave now remains. When opened, it will link the northern half of the main island to the southern region.O’Neill committed K40 million over the next two years to building the Samberigi-Erave road. It is the culmination of 16 years of hard work but O’Neill had been there from the beginning with Hela Governor Anderson Agiru.O’Neill was appointed chairman of the Gulf-Southern Highlands Highway in 1997 when the idea was first mooted. Agiru was governor of Southern Highlands.Agiru said: “This was a momentous occasion. When this road came up for discussions in Parliament, somebody said it was a road to nowhere.“Today it is a major economic corridor road. “I told the people that our prime minister is committed to delivering important projects such as this to connect the unconnected peoples of our land. This is the era of the forgotten.“I also asked the prime minister to commit towards completing the highway in this term of parliament and to the joy of the people of Samberigi, Erave and Poloba, he committed K40 million over the next two years.”